Channing Tatum Reveals How Ryan Reynolds "Fought" for Him in Marvelous Tribute

Look out, Hugh Jackman, Ryan Reynolds has another Deadpool & Wolverine bromance.

Channing Tatum shared a touching tribute to Reynolds, 47, for allowing him to fulfill his dream Marvel role as Gambit—which he was in the newly released movie. The Magic Mike star posted two photos 10 years apart of himself and Reynolds at San Diego Comic Con, sharing the history behind his long journey to play the X-Men member. 

"I sat in the audience when Ryan showed his first peek of Deadpool 1 to the world," Tatum recalled of the 2016 film which Reynolds championed and produced, “and I think I ran backstage right after and found him and I think I just hugged him and was like holy s--t you did it man. It's perfect." 

Tatum, who had been set to star as Gambit in a movie that was ultimately never made,  admitted that at the time he didn't know Reynolds well, but went on to sing the actor's praises. 

"Since then I can say that there is almost no one that has had my back in this industry more than Ryan," the 44-year old—who is engaged to Zoë Kravitz—continued. "I thought I had lost Gambit forever. But he fought for me and Gambit. I will owe him probably forever. I'm not sure how I could ever do something that would be equal to what this has meant to me." 

Calling Deadpool & Wolverine a "masterpiece," Tatum directed a note to Reynolds saying, "I love ya buddy." 

Tatum was one of several stars—including Chris Evans, Wesley Snipes and Jennifer Garner—who made small appearances in the film. But one of the most talked about cameos was the person behind Lady Deadpool. While many signs pointed to Reynolds and Tatum's mutual pal to Taylor Swift, it was revealed that it was actually Blake Lively behind the role.

Reynolds and Lively are already parents to four kids—James, 9, Inez, 7, Betty, 4, and Olin, born in 2023. As for whether they're open to having more in the future, Reynolds joked about his massive family to E! News in July. 

“The more the merrier,” Reynolds quipped in a joint interview with costar Hugh Jackman. “As many as possible. As many little heartbeats as possible, just running around, wrecking stuff in the house. I love it. Let’s have more!” 

Reynolds and Lively like to keep it real when it comes to being parents. Here's what they've said about their family of six. 

And the adoration was not one-sided. Reynolds, in turn, showered Tatum with love of his own, writing on his Instagram Story, "Imagine having a front row seat to this guy. He's not only a once in a generation talent but he's a genuinely good man." 

The Proposal alum, who has been candid in the past about his struggles to get his version of Deadpool to the big screen, added, "I know what it feels like to will a character into existence. Chan did that." 

Tatum was one of several stars—including Chris Evans, Wesley Snipes and Jennifer Garner—who made small appearances in the film. But one of the most talked about cameos was the person behind Lady Deadpool. While many signs pointed to Reynolds and Tatum's mutual pal to Taylor Swift, it was revealed that it was actually Blake Lively behind the role.

And it was a full family affair as two of Reynolds and Lively’s kids, Inez, 7, and toddler Olin, played Kidpool and Babypool, respectively. And the actor was sure to give the full family—including daughters James, 9, and Betty, 4, a special shoutout ahead of the film’s release.

"I want to start by saying thank you to my wife Blake, who is here," Reynolds said during the film’s world premiere July 22. "I want to thank my kids James, Inez, Betty, Olin, who are here: I hope that, if I’m lucky, this moment will be the most traumatic thing—that is, the contents of this movie—that happens in your wondrous life. I love that my entire family is here."

Reynolds and Lively like to keep it real when it comes to being parents. Here's what they've said about their family of six. 

"I have seen Frozen with my daughters so, so many times and people don't know this, but if you play Frozen backwards, it's actually a shot for shot remake of The Exorcist," Reynolds joked on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2018.

On Dec. 15, 2016, Reynolds and Lively debuted their daughters James and Inez for the first time, at the actor's Hollywood Walk of Fame Ceremony (a common setting for notoriously private celebrities to introduce the world to their kids). During his speech, Reynolds said to his wife, "You make everything better—absolutely everything in my life better. You've given us two of the most incredible children that I could ever hope to have. You've made me the father of my dreams when I thought I only had fun uncle potential."

In August 2016, before the birth of the couple's second daughter, Reynolds told E! News, "There's nothing on earth more grounding than having a baby. It's the best thing that could ever happen to someone."

"It's tough when you get pooped on and barfed on, but having a baby is wonderful," the proud mama told NW Magazine in 2016. "Even when it's tough and I'm exhausted, I think, 'I am so fortunate.'"

During a visit to the Late Show with David Letterman in 2015, Reynolds gushed about his marriage and his daughter, but made sure viewers knew who was more important. "'I would take a bullet for you. I could never love anything as much as I love you.' I would say that to my wife. And the second I looked in that baby's eyes, I knew in that exact moment that if we were ever under attack, I would use my wife as a human shield to protect that baby."

In tradition with his dark sense of humor, Reynolds shared this little parenting joke with his Twitter followers in 2016: "Being a father is the single greatest feeling on earth. Not including those wonderful years I spent without a child, of course."

"I always do the dirty work," Reynolds said on NBC's Today show in 2016. "I'm happy to do the dirty work. So does she, but I'm always, I love getting up in the middle of the night, I'm fine with that, you know, all that stuff."

Fatherhood, he said, has been "amazing."

"I had one of those mornings, rare mornings, where my daughter just didn't want me to leave—and it was only because my wife was asleep," Reynolds said in 2016. "But it was like, you didn't want to go. You just like, it kills you."

"You know, what was really weird was, we were watching the Super Bowl and my daughter saw it and she totally recognized me. There was like 12 of me, which is just like, to her, was like 24 useless boobs," Reynolds said in 2016. "She was so not impressed. She was like, 'Eh, whatever.'"

"Damn it's hard letting your infant daughter go somewhere alone for the first time, I was a total mess dropping her off at Burning Man," Ryan joked to his Twitter followers in 2016.

"She's great, man. She's great," the proud papa gushed in 2015 before revealing whether the couple's then-only child James has started speaking. "We're getting a lot of sounds, nothing that sounds like discernible English at this point," he quipped, adding, "I'm mocking her a lot."

"@vancityreynolds Since the day our baby was born, I've felt so strongly in my heart that you were most likely the father," Lively wrote on Instagram in 2015. "#ILoveYouSoMuchItsSilly."

"Having a baby is just living in the constant unexpected," Lively said in 2016. "You never know when you're gonna get crapped on or when you're gonna get a big smile or when that smile immediately turns into hysterics. It might be like living with a drug addict. But you have a baby and you think, 'I can't imagine ever not having a baby,' because they grow up so quickly. I'd be an 80-year-old woman with a baby if I could."

 "It's the best," Lively said in 2015. "It's the thing that binds us all—family. We have very unique jobs for a living, but we all are a part of someone's family. It's a nice thing."

"On Father's Day, my daughter smiled at me," Reynolds tweeted in 2015. "It was all the gift I needed as I packed a bag and left for 6 years to write a book on parenting."

"There have been times where I woke up, literally had no idea I had been walking for five minutes," he told E! News while promoting his movie Woman in Gold in 2015.

"But you love it. You wake up in the middle of the night, you got a big stupid smile on your face. I was telling someone else that. Anything else that woke you up every 45 minutes, you'd kill it. But when it's a baby, it's the best thing that ever happened to you."

"One of the most common things in the world is making out, having a couple of drinks, and then doing it, and then having a baby. I was perfectly sober for this one though. I gotta say," Reynolds joked in 2016.

"It's amazing. I just always marvel how common it is and yet how profound it is. And I always laugh because you know celebrities you always cringe when they talk about their kids. Like 'my child is the only one that has ever exited a womb out, ever.'"

"Well, a lot of people have done this, so you always want to temper it with a little of self-effacement. But I love it," Reynolds said in 2015 about then-only child James. "I truly worship that kid. It's terrible. She has me so far wrapped around her finger it's dumb. She says 'Dada' and I will walk through a cement wall to get to her."